Version originale

Laura Innes Live:
Hi, it's great to be here! Fire away!

Question:Laura,
I wanted to say first off... that I really admire you and you give me so
much strength. My question for you is...has playing a lesbain on ER..changed
you in anyway off screen? Thank you...to you from Tx.

Laura Innes Live:
I think when you play a character who has a different experience than yourself
you get some vicarious sense of what that person goes through. Sometimes
when I'm out shopping I'll run into people who will express disappointment
in the storyline and that makes me feel kind of sad. I sort of feel like
a teenage girl who is coming out and her mother hopes it's just a phase.
But yes it gives me a deeper understanding of what that experience feels
like.

Question: A fan
of yours read in an interview that, when you were asked to do the lesbian
storyline, after making sure your family was cool about it, you asked your
publicist whether this could harm your career, and s/he said, probably yes,
what would you have done?

Laura Innes Live:
Oh I'm sure i still would have done it! i called my publicist because he's
gay and he's one of my best friends. I knew he would be fired up by the
idea. i had people say to me in warning, "if you do this storyline, people
might really think you're gay." My reaction was "So what?" It this character
had been gay whn I auditioned, I would have still gone through with the
audition. I don't have any negative felingd about this. I think actors get
typecast and that's sad. Any kind of stereotyping can diminish what you
do as an actor. But I'm thrilled with this storyline and there is a lot
more to explore!

Question: How much
input do you have in developing Kerry's character? Do you wish you had more
input?

LauraInnesLlVE: I
almost always express my point of view to the writers and producers.
Sometimes the alter a storyline accordingly, sometimes they don't.
There are LauraInnesLlVE: certainly times when I wish I had more input.
Last year I was LauraInnesLlVE: fairly involved in the progression of the
story. But yes, I wish I had a little more input. But I try!

AOLiveMC11: We are
talking with Laura Innes, who not only stars as Dr. Kerry Weaver on "ER,"
but also hasAOLiveMC11: taken several stints directing,
especially for other high-rated NBC dramas like "The West Wing," which recently
won her an Emmy nomination.

AOLiveMC11: Earthlight
asks ...Dear Laura, Hello, my name is Tiffany. I love your character "Kerry
Weaver" shebrings out the bitch in all of us! :)
But my question is, which do you favor more, acting, or directing?

LauraInnesLlVE:
You know, I don't really prefer one over the other. I enjoy doing
them both tremendously. They both really 'feed' each other.
When I'm in front of the camera I learn what I need to bring to the
table as a director and vice versa. It certainly makes me more compassionate
when I work with actors as a director. I'm very happy to do them both and
as long as I'm able to continue to do both, I will.

AOLiveMC11: Who
has been some of the most inspirational directors you've worked with?

LauraInnesLlVE: When
I first worked on the show, Mimi Leder had worked on the show. She
had developed some of the best episodes, including "Love's Labor Lost'.
She helped define 'ER'. That was really before I even thought about becoming
a director but before I did do "ER" I went back and looked at some of her
work. In recent years, my inspiration is Jonathan Kaplan. He's
an increible mentor and inspiration to me. He's so knowledgeable in
directing and film making. He's my 'go to' guy. I've also worked with
Tommy Schlamme...he has inspired and supported me as I've started off in
this new career. Without them, I would not be able to do this.

AOLiveMC11: We are
chatting with Laura Innes from NBC's "ER" Our next question comes from Dr
drgc ...Ms. Innes, this season the episodes have
been very fast paced and full of action compared to last season where the
episodes were slower moving and less intense. Do you think we
will see this new, dramatic writing and directing continue through the season?

LauraInnesLlVE:
I know in the past couple of years our show has added more 'action packed'
episodes. The one on tonight called "The Storm" is a VERY big show.
It's a good story and very intense. Over the years, some of our shows
have moved more in that direction. For some of us who directed on
the show for a little while now, we tend to edit out the things that feel
like dead weight. The audience has been with us for so long. The audience
kind of gets ahead of you. I directed last week's episode and that was a
pretty calm episode. We ran about 9 minutes too long on that show.
We got into the editing room and cut it down. I hope when we do that, we're
not sacrificing some of the storylines that might feel a bit more
thoughtful. I think the show works when it moves along quickly.
In the episode that was on last week, " If I Should Fall From Grace", I
thought it kind of went back to when 'ER" first started. I thought
after the intensity of that day, we sort of earned the connection of those
two characters. We have had some pretty intense shows this year, I know
I've had some that were intense.

AOLiveMC11: Talking
a little bit about your character, Kerry Weaver, we received this question
from a member of our audience ... Exactly what is Kerry Weaver's leg problem?

LauraInnesLlVE:
This is the 20 million dollar question! The short answer is, no one
really knows. When I first auditioned she was described as using a
cane. When I got the part I asked what was wrong with her leg and no one
gave me an answer. I worked with a woman who has polio and I get the
walk from her. The producers aren't revealing her disability for two reasons,
one that she's a successful doctor with a disability. The other is
that there is still a mystery to her illness. Once you decide to tell
the audience what is wrong with her it becomes true, a part of the show.
It's over, you can never do anything about it. I think there had been
a couple of times that it was going to be included in the story but for
various reasons it was never added. But for now it's going to be let
go and unknown. Maybe someday we'll find out. For me it's always been
important that the disability doesn't fulfull the stereotypes of disability
ie-someone who can't fulfull. I like that she's someone with a disability
who is extremely capable.

AOLiveMC11: We're
talking with Laura Innes, who plays Dr. Kerry Weaver on NBC's "ER" ... Our
next question comes from Goku2653 ...Actors are known to get attached to
the characters they are playing. Do you have these sort of feelings towards
Kerry? Had you met kerry in real life, would you like her? Are you going
to miss her when she's gone?

LauraInnesLlVE: Yes,
I think actors become very attached to the characters that they play. In
this case I'm so attached to her I have very little objectivity to her.
I think she is complicated and interesting and to me intriguing in a way
that I never get tired of. It's almost like with your own child, you're
very, very protective and understanding and even when she does terrible
things, I so understand why and I so make excuses for her. I think that's
what makes me able to play her with the enthusiasm that I do. I think
it would be a mistake to soften her.LauraInnesLlVE: People all the time do
things to advance their careers, she's just a slightly more blatant example
of that. It's fun to watch and see her in a boardroom turning against Mark
Green. It's fun! They give me so many parts of her to play. I've had
people come up to me and embrace me and people who just want to slap me
across the face and I think that's great! And I think that's great
for the show too!

AOLiveMC11: One
of the roles we've had a chance to see Dr. Weaver in is as a hero ...It's
about time that Kerry gets an episode like "Partly Cloudy,Question: Chance
of Rain". I've been waiting for this since season 2. How doyou feel about your character finally
having a "hero" episode?

LauraInnesLlVE: I
feel great about it! I'm very willing to take the ball sometimes to
create drama but I'm also always asking them to have storyline showing me
with the patients, being a nice gentle doctor. There are those storylines
but this one, "Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain" is like a full on heroic show.
It was fun to do...it's a lot of action! It's also strange for me..by the
nature of the part I represent different groups of people-disabled people,
lesbian women. I want the character to be true and complex but I do
look forward to being a hero and having the audience on my side. I
really appreciate your comment about that!

AOLiveMC11: Well,
we are getting a lot of questions about Sherry Stringfield's return ...
Hey Laura! What is it like to be working with Sherry Stringfield again?

LauraInnesLlVE: It's
great! It's kind of funny because people were kind of like " This
is strange..it's been 5 years!" When I first started on the show I
was a recurring character so I didn't really know her. But when she
came back it was great! She's a great person, really down to earth.
She has a beautiful baby now. It's really fun having her there again.

AOLiveMC11: We have
time for just a few more questions with Laura Innes ... who I believe is
dying to tell us about the episode tonight. What can we expect?

LauraInnesLlVE:
It's a big action episode and a great storyline for me. The plot is
there is a huge catastrophic rainstorm in Chicago. Kerry ends up going
out with paramedics and there is a pregnant woman trapped on the street.
What's great about it is Kerry gets to be a full on hero. And she
is once again put in a situation where Kerry can't control what is going
on. According to the doctors who work on the show, this situation is a nightmare.
You're in an unsterile environment and have to decide how to treat a mother
and unborn baby. I hope people will watch it and enjoy it because it was
really challenging to do. We were up all night and had rain bars dumping
freezing cold rain on us! But it was funny to do!

AOLiveMC11: And
speaking of Robert ... (OK, we weren't ...) Why doesn't "Kerri" just haul
off and hit "Robert" on the show? I'd love to see that!

LauraInnesLlVE:
I would love to see that too! That's a great idea. Just cold
cock him! I love playing scenes with Paul McCrane! He's hilarious.
He's so skilled, we really have a good time screaming at each other.
I'm going to mention this to the writers, I would love to just beat the
crap out of him! LOL